April 7:  Day 6

Today was a long day, but feels even more so now I am getting towards the end of it because, although my tummy felt way better this morning, by this afternoon I was feeling sick again.  Tummy disruption is not at all fun when having to use public squatters in dingy dirty "bathrooms" (a very loose term!) on the roadside, in stations ( Read more... )

April 4:  Day 3 - Arrival

My first impression of Kashmir, after an amazing flight from Delhi with fantastic views of the snow-capped peaks of the south-western tip of the Himalayas dominating the cloudline, was that it was going to be like no place I had ever been before.  On the drive from the airport, street life in Srinigar looked fairly in ( Read more... )

Distressed?  Disoriented?  Totally, utterly, exhausted?!

I'm back!  I guess this is likely to be kept more as a travel journal than anything else, given that day to day life in England seems to take over from much opportunity to write, or even provides much new to comment on.  I've changed all that for now though, and dull drab same same England has ( Read more... )

I can't for the life of me fathom how I didn't die wearing these shoes but, by golly, aren't they beautiful?


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It saddens me that so many people around us just don't seem to realise that there is a WHOLE WORLD out there beyond their tiny little bubbles of existence.  They go through their day-to-day lives doing the same mundane things with the same mundane people in the same drab old dreary places, and to what end?  It seems to me they have very little ( Read more... )

You know, I feel like my last few entries have been both sparse and a bit on the glum side.  Things can always be worse though, and despite having a job that I think hates me as much as I hate it, looking back I have actually had a pretty damn good summer. It has consisted mainly of bands, beer and castles in my surprisingly gorgeous home county, ( Read more... )

People often talk about meeting a crossroads in life and wondering which route to take, which will ultimately cut all the other options off (apparently U-turns in life aren't allowed), thus shaping the directions of their little lives.  I agree with this, though I tend to think more along the branches of Sylvia Plath's fig tree metaphor in The Bell ( Read more... )

If, like me, you enjoy the occasional spot of people watching, and if, like me, you inhabit a town or city of working class roots, I recommend you look no further than your local fast food outlet:  you will be guaranteed some fine sights!  After a night on the tiles the previous evening which triggered certain hangover cravings, I decided to ( Read more... )

My previous weekend may have been the Blues, but this weekend was entirely opposite. Yep, you guessed it.... Beards! (Actually last weekend turned out to be pretty good - a sunny and extremely boozy bank holiday, just as it should be.)

Ok so maybe you didn't guess, but tell you all about it I shall! I arrived at work late on Friday morning after ( Read more... )

Hello ( Read more... )